


The Scheme You Propose

by Mara



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-10 19:10:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11698077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara/pseuds/Mara
Summary: How could he turn down a banana in distress?Successful rebel Kiriya Kujo came to make peace with his past and his family. But he'd never thought that to appear "respectable," he'd become the pretend fiancé of a banana-wearing storeowner! Yet how could he refuse spunky Emu Hojou, the man under the costume, when he kissed him so sweetly— and so thoroughly—in the spaghetti aisle of the supermarket?His gaze implored him to play the role of lover to show up his ex-fiancé. But remembering the kisses they shared were supposed to be pretend became more difficult, when all Kiriya wanted to do was to make love to the appealing Emu! Was the proposal turning into something…real?





	The Scheme You Propose

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the 2017 Unconventional Courtship challenge. The summary above (obviously with different character names and other minor changes) comes from the book "The Virgin's Proposal" by Shirley Jump. Thanks to Aryn for the betaread!
> 
> Also, this is an AU, so I’m stating for the record that _my_ Nico is 22. So there. (It's not actually that important for this story, I'm just disturbed by her being 17 or 18 in the show.)

Kiriya strolled down Main Street, trying to decide if the town had actually changed or if it was just him. At least the grocery store was still where he remembered it. He wouldn’t have to go hungry tonight; all he needed was a bag of groceries to take to the motel.

Jacket slung casually across his shoulders, he came through the doors and grabbed a basket, trying to figure out what would be available, fast, and easy. Wandering down the first aisle, he scanned the shelves and sighed. He'd gotten so spoiled in the big city. Ah well. 

According to the sign, the next aisle was dried pasta, which wasn't the most helpful unless he got something like a hot plate and he hoped he wouldn't be around that long. He was about to bypass it when something very large and very yellow caught his eye. Skidding to a halt, he turned around and saw that standing in the middle of the aisle was a…large banana?

The banana turned around and showed a human face, which lit up when it saw him. Kiriya had only a moment to brace himself before the bana…er, the man in the banana costume leaped at him and almost knocked him over. 

Barely staying upright, Kiriya looked in confusion at the face, which seemed vaguely familiar, although it was difficult to tell at this close proximity. Close because he was about to be kissed by a banana. Even for his life, that had to be a new low.

And then warm, soft lips were on his and he automatically dropped his empty basket and grabbed for a body that was buried under a costume. Okay. But he was being kissed so enthusiastically and it had been a while and holy cow, this damn banana could kiss. Not to be shown up, Kiriya pulled out a few of his own favorite tricks.

"Emu!" a voice hollered.

Still slightly dazed, Kiriya finally pulled back from the kiss. Wait, didn't he know—

"Go _away_ , Kuroto," the banana said, not letting go of him.

Kuroto? Kiriya blinked a few times. Hold on…

The banana finally pulled the head of the costume back and Kiriya's brain re-engaged enough to recognize Emu Hojou, who had, uh, apparently grown up a lot. 

"What are you doing kissing another man?" Kuroto…oh shit, that was Kuroto Dan, biggest and smuggest ass this side of, well, anywhere. Kuroto stood at the end of the aisle in his slick suit and glared at the two of them.

Emu snorted. "It's none of your business. Besides, I can kiss the man I'm engaged to, right?" Turning back to Kiriya, Emu looked at him. "Right, Kiriya?"

Well, fuck. He'd been back in town for a few hours, but apparently he was already engaged to a kid who he barely remembered. About to make a joke and get the hell out of the store, he saw Emu's expression, which looked almost desperate. He couldn't do it. "Right, Emu."

Emu almost slid to the floor, looking relieved, but he took a breath and turned back to the stunned man behind him. "I've moved on. You should too."

Kuroto glared at Kiriya. "You're going to regret coming back to town." And he stomped off.

With a sigh, Kiriya watched him walking away. "I already do." Small towns sucked.

Emu flung his arms around Kiriya, making him yelp in surprise. "Thank you!" Emu whispered.

"You can thank me," Kiriya said, "by explaining what the hell is going on."

"Oh!" Emu pulled back and stared at him. "You've been gone so you don't know."

"Right. That's why I'm asking," Kiriya said with what he thought was admirable patience.

"Where have you been? Nobody's—"

"Focus!" Kiriya pushed up his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. "Why am I suddenly engaged to…wait, how old are you anyway? Weren't you like, 12, when I left?"

Hands on what was presumably his hips under the banana costume, Emu scowled at him. "I'm 22."

"Oh good. Now, can you _please explain_?"

"Not here. C'mon." Emu grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the back of the store. They passed by a few other customers, all of whom stopped to stare.

Kiriya sighed. On the bright side, his reputation in town was already so miserable, making a scene in the supermarket with a banana would hardly rank on the list of his crimes.

* * *

"Can you unzip me?" Emu asked as the stockroom door closed behind them.

"Pardon me?" Kiriya's mind blanked out.

"The banana? I think I'm done selling banana bread for today."

"Er…yes." Kiriya examined the back of the costume when Emu turned around. He found the hidden zipper and shortly had it pulled down a broad and muscular back, stopping just below a truly excellent ass. Emu had _definitely_ grown up.

Emu stepped out of the costume and dropped onto a chair, looking relieved.

Leaning against the back of the door, Kiriya tried not to stare at the legs revealed by the shorts Emu had been wearing under the banana. "So. Kuroto Dan."

Emu looked away, biting his lip. "Yeah. He'd been chasing after me for a while. I finally agreed to date him. He's the one who decided we were engaged. I never actually agreed."

"Why would you date that unmitigated ass?"

That got Emu's attention and he looked up, eyes widening. "You think so too? Everyone in town thinks he's great."

"No, they think his father's money and position at the bank are great. There's a difference." Kiriya snorted. "But I do know how the pressure can be." He pressed his lips together, irritated. He hadn't intended to give away any personal information.

Emu looked at him for a long moment. "I doubt Kuroto went after you. You're not his type."

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Wait." His eyes turned round as saucers. "Oh my god, they almost put your parents out of business."

Kiriya tensed. "What? No. Why would you think that?"

"There was no other reason for the only funeral parlor for miles around to nearly close so suddenly, just before you left town." Emu was clearly thinking aloud. "Why did Masamune Dan do that? He must have—" Emu froze, blinking up at Kiriya. "Jungo," he said in a small voice. "Was it something to do with Jungo dying?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kiriya shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Once my best friend was dead, there was no reason to stay in town."

"Kuroto did something. And I'll bet they told you if you left without saying anything, the bank wouldn't foreclose on your parents." Emu stood. "That's terrible."

"I didn't say that. I want to know why we're apparently engaged."

Emu flushed, sprawling back in the chair and looking exhausted. "I told you Kuroto just decided we were engaged and he wouldn't take no for an answer. He's been following me around. It's…creepy."

"No surprise, since he's always been a creep."

"I've been thinking for a few days that maybe if I got engaged to someone else he'd leave me alone."

"So you chose the guy half the town thinks is a murderer?" Kiriya raised an eyebrow. 

Emu pouted adorably. "Not on purpose. You were—wait, what?"

"You didn't realize how many people blame me for Jungo's death?" Kiriya was surprised to find it still hurt to say that.

"No!" Emu's eyes were blazing with anger and he leapt from his seat. "How could anyone believe that? That's ridiculous!"

What _was_ ridiculous was how much that staunch declaration warmed the heart Kiriya was fairly sure he no longer had. He took a breath. "Doesn't matter what you believe. When I left, that sealed it in a lot of people's minds."

Emu stepped closer, clearly about to say something, when the door slammed open and a force of nature in pink and yellow flew into the room. "Emu! We need you! There's a rush on toilet paper and Mrs. Nakamura's littlest knocked over the soup can display and—"

Holding up a hand, Emu stopped the flow of words. "I'm coming, Poppy."

The force of nature resolved into a woman holding a clipboard, who stared unabashedly at Kiriya. "Who's this?"

Even knowing it was a bad idea, Kiriya couldn't resist grinning. "I'm his fiancé, Kiriya Kujo. Nice to meet you."

Emu beamed at him and Poppy's jaw dropped.

Yeah, terrible idea, but hell, if the bad boy returned to town couldn't cause some trouble, what was the point, right?

* * *

Kiriya ended up buying his groceries but Emu made him promise to come over for dinner in an hour (once he'd helped Poppy, who was apparently his store manager, sort out a few crises). As he meandered back to the motel, Kiriya pondered his next steps. 

As amusing as this whole situation was…Kiriya was going to have to break up this fake engagement soon if he didn't want to hurt Emu in the process.

His amused grin faded away as he entered his motel room and pulled a thumb drive out of his pocket, popping it into a laptop.

* * *

Emu lived in an apartment over the store, which was one of those things that happened in large cities and small towns, Kiriya thought with some amusement as he climbed the rickety stairs. This being a small town, he could sense eyes on him as he climbed. This being his own hometown, he knew half those eyes had already heard that Emu had declared they were engaged and were making assumptions about what he was doing.

For a moment, he wished those filthy-minded townspeople were right. It would be great if he was climbing toward his fiancé, who would declare he couldn't wait until after dinner and then sweep him off to the bedroom. And they would have wild sex and not have to worry about Kuroto Dan.

The memory of that desperate kiss in the store hit him like a rock and he had to pause to distract himself, lest he arrive with an inconvenient and very obvious erection.

Get a grip, he told himself.

Emu opened the door dressed in the most adorable apron Kiriya had ever seen. Frankly, not many guys could pull off a pink flowered apron over a green video game t-shirt, but apparently Emu was one of them. Kiriya sucked in a breath, wondering if he was always doomed to encounter Emu in costume (as it were) and whether he would stop finding that hot.

Happily, Emu didn't notice Kiriya's expression as he welcomed him in. "I'm running a little behind, but dinner will be ready in a few."

Kiriya couldn't resist. "Shouldn't you welcome your fiancé with a kiss?" he teased.

"Oh!" Emu whirled.

Before Kiriya could laugh at his own joke, Emu was there, cradling Kiriya's face in his hands and gently kissing him. Kiriya finally got his hands on the hips that had been hidden by the banana and gave as good as he got.

By the time they pulled back from the kiss, Emu was flushed. He gave Kiriya a tiny smile. "Let me finish dinner."

It took a few moments for Kiriya's brain to reboot, but he managed to follow Emu into the kitchen.

Sinking into a chair, he watched Emu stir a few things, nearly drop a plate, and bounce on the balls of his feet to a song on the radio. It was very normal and Kiriya soaked it all in. He'd had very little normal.

Shortly, he was helping bring food to the table and they were chatting like old friends, although they'd barely even known each other before...before everything. Emu had been one of a dozen gangly young teens hanging out at the soda fountain at the drug store, pretending they knew how to fix cars, and trying stupid stunts like TPing the mayor's yard.

Emu described buying the grocery store two years previously with an inheritance from his grandmother and they talked about people in town. Taiga Hanaya had bought the drugstore and seemed to consider himself Emu's business rival. (Emu thought it was hilarious and humored him in this delusion.) Hiiro Kagami had taken over from his father as town doctor (with Poppy's calmer twin sister as his nurse) but was apparently his father's exact opposite in personality.

"At least, that's what everyone else says," Emu said, twirling spaghetti on his fork. "I've never found him cold."

I’m sure you haven't, Kiriya thought. Not to you, at least.

"But what about you?" Emu sat up straight. "I've been babbling on and you never told me what you've been doing."

"I…" Kiriya looked down at his plate, pushing a piece of asparagus around. "I finished my graduate degree a few years ago."

"Wow, that's great! In what?"

"Forensic science." Kiriya smiled faintly down at his food, waiting for the usual reaction. "I conduct autopsies for the police, among other things."

"That makes perfect sense. I'm sure you're very good."

Looking up, Kiriya stared at Emu. 

"Your parents owned a funeral home. I didn't think you'd be bothered by corpses." Emu grinned at him. 

"Oh. Right." Kiriya absently took a drink of water. That wasn't what he'd expected at all.

"So what do you do?"

Kiriya put down his fork. "Most of it isn't exactly suitable for the dinner table."

"Oh. Right." Emu thought. "So you'll tell me later?"

"I…if you really want to know, yes." Kiriya stared at Emu for a moment. Was he for real? Was it possible for anyone to be this nice?

* * *

In the end, Kiriya stayed far past dinner and only left when he realized that both of them were yawning and having trouble keeping their eyes open.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Emu couldn't quite meet his gaze.

Kiriya didn't know what to say.

"I mean, if you're my fiancé, it's only normal, right?"

"Emu, I'm not sure—"

"Maybe I can help you with whatever you're here to do." The words came out in a rush and Emu stared down at the floor.

Kiriya blinked.

Slowly, Emu lifted his head. "You didn't come home for a school reunion. And your parents moved out of town recently."

"That's true."

"And you didn't come to find me." That came with a tiny cheeky grin.

"No, I guarantee I didn't imagine someone like you here."

"So tell me what's going on." Emu crossed his arms. 

It had never in a million years occurred to Kiriya that anyone would _care_ why he was there, other than his parents and Kuroto Dan. "Let me think about it."

Emu nodded. "Okay. Come to the store tomorrow. Poppy can hold the fort for a while."

Kiriya nodded back slowly. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Leaning forward, Emu enfolded him in a hug. "It's a date," he said with laugh.

Kiriya couldn't help smiling as he hugged him back.

* * *

Climbing down the rickety steps, Kiriya wondered how he got himself into these messes. Pondering that is probably why it took him a few steps to notice the shape coming down the sidewalk in the other direction.

Sliding his hands into his pockets, Kiriya did his best to look calm and collected. "Fancy meeting you here."

Kuroto looked up at Emu's apartment and then sneered at Kiriya. "So it's true. You're trying to steal my fiancé."

Kiriya just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why did you come back?" Kuroto took a step closer, looming over him. 

"Because I'm not afraid of you anymore. My parents are retired and moved out of town and the business is gone." Kiriya shrugged. "And you and your dad may be bigshots here in town, but you can't do anything to me in the city."

Kuroto smirked, slowly and deliberately walking around Kiriya, who fought to not flinch or turn his head to watch the other man. "Hmm," Kuroto said. "That's big talk."

Biting his tongue, Kiriya resisted the urge to retort it was probably bigger than Kuroto's dick. Discretion was the better part of valor and all that. But as Kuroto circled back around, his expression was too gleeful and Kiriya's fingers twitched to punch him. "Are you done?" Kiriya asked. "I'd like to get some sleep." 

"Yes, big talk," Kuroto said. "Big talk from someone who still has something left to lose."

Kiriya felt as if he was falling back in time as he stared up at a Kuroto who was entirely too pleased with himself. "What are you talking about?"

Tilting his head, Kuroto looked up at Emu's apartment. "You know, he just barely manages to pay the mortgage on this building every month."

It was like a punch to the gut. "You…I thought you were in love with him."

"If I can't have him, nobody can. But in this case, it's a win-win for me. If you leave him, I get Emu. If you fight this, I'll ruin Emu's business and then he'll have to run to me for help anyway." Kuroto grinned maliciously.

The thought of the ridiculously nice and innocent boy upstairs having to ask Kuroto for help made Kiriya's stomach ache. "Leave him alone."

"I can fuck him or I can fuck him over." Kuroto chuckled. "It's your decision."

"Fine," Kiriya said through gritted teeth. "I'll break up with him."

With a smile, Kuroto strolled off, calling over his shoulder, "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

Kiriya took several deep breaths. Then with a last glance up at Emu's apartment, he walked back to the motel. He'd been intending to break off this fake engagement anyway, but to do it because Kuroto told him to really rankled. The only bright spot was that if Kuroto thought Emu was going to roll right back to him, well, he had another think coming.

And if he intended to keep Emu safe from Kuroto…well, Kiriya was clearly going to have to move faster than he'd planned. Time to send some e-mails and make a few calls.

* * *

By the time Kiriya had dozed off in the wee hours of the morning, he was fairly confident that things were back on track. He might even have been correct, if those plans hadn't involved Emu going along with them. 

"So we need to break up the engagement," he finished after a highly edited version of the previous night's confrontation.

Emu barely gave him time to finish his sentence. "No." 

"What?"

"I said no."

"He's threatening your business."

"Let him threaten." Emu crossed his arms, lips pursed. "You can't abandon your fiancé to Kuroto Dan's machinations."

Kiriya rubbed his temples. "You do remember that the engagement is fake, right? Unlike your grocery store, which is real."

"That's not the point. You can't do what he says."

"Why not?" Kiriya huffed an unamused laugh. "You think I've done it once already."

Emu's shoulders slumped a little. "I'm sorry."

Kiriya turned, wishing there was more room to pace in the stockroom. He took a few steps away, leaning his forehead against a metal shelf. "None of this is your fault."

"But if I hadn't gotten you into this fake engagement—"

When Emu didn't continue, Kiriya tilted his head to look at him. Emu's eyes were wide and his mouth formed a near-perfect O. "What?" Kiriya asked sharply.

The wide eyes focused on him, then narrowed down. "You never told me why you came back to town."

"To clean out my parents' house," Kiriya said, the lie coming out as smoothly as ever.

"Bullshit."

Kiriya raised his eyebrows.

Rolling his eyes, Emu said, "Yes, I know obscenities. But the point is that you just lied to me. If that was your reason for coming to town, you would have said so yesterday."

"I don't like to talk about it."

Emu's mouth turned down and Kiriya had to resist the urge to hug him and tell him everything would be fine. "If you don't want to talk to me," Emu said, "then just say so." 

Emu walked out of the stockroom, leaving Kiriya wondering why he felt like such an ass right now.

* * *

Kiriya left the store without seeing Emu again, avoiding catching the eye of anyone else. The last thing he needed right now was a conversation with some nosy neighbor.

Glancing off to the side as he exited the store, it took a great deal of will to keep from hauling off and punching Kuroto in his smug asshole face. But that was just what the man wanted, because with all the witnesses, he could easily get Kiriya arrested. And once he was in jail in this town the Dan family owned, that was it.

"I broke off the engagement," Kiriya said, walking on. "For all the good it will do you, since he refused to accept it."

Kuroto just laughed as he entered the store.

With their matching stubbornness, Kiriya figured he had at least an hour before anyone thought to wonder what he was doing. Time enough for the next planned meeting to occur with a low likelihood of discovery. Briefly, he missed the anonymity of the city, where it was easy to find a coffee shop where nobody would notice you.

Of course, the other side of the coin was that he could be pretty damn sure nobody was following him as he ducked through a gate to the small house tucked away in the corner of town. The man who opened the door gave him a grin that was frankly rather creepy. "Come in."

Kiriya ducked past Parad and into the dim house.

* * *

Surprisingly, Kuroto didn't track Kiriya down until the next morning, when the latter was in a booth at the local café (which had spiffed up quite a bit over the years), drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper.

Slamming his hands on the table, causing Kiriya's cup to wobble and coffee to slosh onto the table, Kuroto growled. "You told him."

Peering at the cup, Kiriya waved at the waitress. "Refill, please." He didn't actually expect her to come over, given the look of fear she was shooting at his assailant, but if it irritated Kuroto, it was worth it.

"You _told him_ what I said."

"Of course I did. Because he deserved to know what might happen." Kiriya folded the newspaper, using his napkin to mop up the spilled coffee. "I didn't think he would tell you that, but I'm starting to suspect he's braver than he is smart."

Kuroto was trying to loom over him, but Kiriya put his feet up on the opposite side of the booth, the picture of relaxation. Kuroto slammed his hands on the table again, but this time Kiriya was ready and caught his cup before it spilled more. "What the hell are you playing at?" Kuroto said.

Kiriya yawned and lifted his coffee toward his mouth, but Kuroto knocked it out of his hand. As the coffee splashed on the floor and the cup smashed, Kiriya sighed. "Too bad. They have surprisingly good coffee here."

"Forget the coffee!"

"Too early for that." Kiriya said, wishing he'd had at least one more cup in him before having to deal with this. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see other customers and staff staring, but it was unlikely anyone was going to—

"Kuroto," a voice said from behind Kiriya, the tone managing to pack a surprising amount of disapproval into the name.

Kiriya didn't dare take his eyes off Kuroto, but he wracked his brain, trying to figure out who it could be.

From his position bent over the table, Kuroto flicked a glance at the mystery man, lip curling in clear disdain. "Doctor." 

Doctor? Kiriya sat up a little straighter as the man, pretentiously still wearing his white coat out of the office, stepped up to stand beside the booth. "I'm sure you have better things to be doing. At the bank." Arms crossed, the man who could only be Hiiro Kagami waited, his expression mildly irritated.

With a final glare, Kuroto stood up straight, kicking at the broken coffee cup as he stalked away.

Hiiro glanced at Kiriya, a quick assessing glance apparently not impressing him much. "Try not to antagonize him. He takes it out on everyone."

Before Hiiro could walk away, Kiriya asked, "You're not afraid of him?"

With a shrug, Hiiro said, "We own the practice outright. Besides, I could always poison him." Then he walked away.

Kiriya watched him leave. That was a joke…right?

* * *

After apologizing to the waitress and helping her clean up, Kiriya paid for his coffee and strolled out the door, studiously ignoring all the whispered conversations that had been happening since he'd entered. If nothing else, he'd given the town entertainment such as it hadn't seen in years. They'd be chewing this over for years more.

As he stepped into the bright sunlight, it felt like a spike into his brain. Ugh. Well, he might as well check out some of the other changes in town…

"Welcome," Taiga called from behind the pharmacy counter, turning around. He stopped, scowling, when he saw Kiriya. "Oh. It's you."

"I see your attitude hasn't changed." Kiriya smirked at him. "Must be great for business." He strolled down the aisles.

"Oi, you. Are you here to be a customer or just to be a pain in the ass?" Taiga rolled his eyes and went back to whatever he had been doing behind the counter.

"I have a headache."

"Don't we all," Taiga muttered.

Kiriya couldn't help chuckling at that as he browsed the selection of painkillers.

A whirling dervish of energy burst through the door behind Taiga and for a moment, Kiriya wondered if Poppy moonlighted at the pharmacy. But this woman wasn't in pink and yellow. In fact, she was dressed more like a punk high school girl than anything else. "You!" she said, before Kiriya could speak.

"Huh?"

She looked him up and down, appearing even less impressed than Hiiro had. (Kiriya was starting to get a complex.) "You're the one that Emu—"

"Nico!" Taiga glared at her.

Hands on her hips, she glared right back. "I just don't get why everyone in town thinks—"

This time, Taiga put a hand over her mouth. "Now is not the time."

Kiriya watched this byplay with interest. "I don't know, I'm certainly curious now."

Snorting, Taiga tugged Nico closer as she mumbled into his hand. "You can take your curiosity somewhere else. The painkillers are on me. Get outta here."

Kiriya grinned and left.

* * *

He'd been avoiding it for hours, but he had to talk to Emu. For his own safety, Emu had to break up this fake engagement. Better for Kuroto to think he had a chance with Emu so that Emu would be safe for the moment.

They ended up back in the storeroom. Kiriya decided he needed more sleep because he was starting to think of it as "their" storeroom. Rubbing his eyes, he pointed at Emu. "You told him? Are you an idiot?"

Arms crossed, Emu frowned. "I couldn't let him threaten you. It's not right."

"He's going to put you out of business, just li…" Kiriya snapped his mouth shut, scowling.

"Like he threatened your parents."

"I didn't say that." Scowling, Kiriya tried again to pace. Having these discussions in a small room was starting to get on his nerves. "Look, you know he's a creep and you know he hates me. That's enough reason to stay far away from me."

"Nope." Emu started to smile. "In fact, we're going out to get something to eat."

"What?"

"I feel the need for a piece of pie."

"No."

"Yes." Emu grabbed his hand and threw open the door, nearly smacking a startled Poppy in the face. "We'll be back in an hour. We'll be at the bakery if you need me."

Smiling, she waved them off.

Kiriya tried to argue but unless he wanted to hurt Emu, the man was simply not letting go. With a sigh, he let himself get dragged to the shop that lay directly in the center of town.

As expected, Emu pushed him into a seat smack dab in the middle of the long narrow seating area, waving at the owner (who was definitely not the old grouchy woman Kiriya remembered). "Do you like blueberry pie?" Emu asked.

Kiriya stared at him for a long moment. "This is still a terrible idea. But yes, I like blueberry."

"Two slices of blueberry pie," Emu called, making sure anyone who hadn't already noticed them turned around and stared.

Kiriya thought seriously about banging his head against the table. "I need a cup of coffee too," he said. "My last cup was knocked on the floor by someone."

Emu shot him a strange look and was about to say something, when they were interrupted by a young woman giving Emu a hug. "Hi, Mio!" Emu said happily. "I'd like to introduce you to Kiriya."

"Hey, Emu. Hey, Kiriya." She smiled brightly and Kiriya managed a weak smile in return. "Did you hear that Amaya got into the college she applied to?"

"Really? That's great!" 

Kiriya had to give Emu credit. He really did look excited by the news. The girl hugged Emu again and went back to her table, where three other girls giggled and waved shyly at them.

Emu waved back, but didn't seem to notice the way almost every eye in the room followed his every move. Oh dear, Kiriya thought. It was clearly just as he had suspected. He settled in for an…interesting hour.

The pie came out next and Kiriya begged for a cup of coffee. "Strong coffee," he said, looking as pathetic as he could.

The jolly rounded man who brought the pie beamed at him. "Of course. Coffee for the lovebirds." He swanned off to get the coffee.

Kiriya shook his head, deciding to make the best of the situation and eat the pie, which was good as well. At least the food in town had clearly improved while he was gone. Unfortunately, he only barely managed to swallow the first bite before a man he didn't recognize approached them. 

"Emu, good to see you." They shook hands.

"Good to see you. How's business?" Emu asked.

"Great." The man glanced at Kiriya, clearly curious.

"Oh!" Emu said in a terrible attempt to pretend he'd forgotten. "Souji, this is Kiriya, my fiancé."

"Pleasure to meet you," Kiriya said, showing a few too many teeth when this Souji person didn't look at all thrilled to know Emu had a fiancé.

"A pleasure," the other man said. He chatted for a few more moments before going back to his own table.

Kiriya managed two more bites before an older woman and her granddaughter came to talk about the grocery store. Emu looked just as happy to see them as he had everyone else. From what he'd seen so far, it was probably true.

And so it went. Emu barely had time to eat his own pie with the stream of people coming by to be introduced to Kiriya and/or ogle Emu. Finally, the hour was up and Emu needed to get back to work.

They were only a step outside the bakery when Emu tugged on Kiriya's arm. When Kiriya turned, Emu pounced, kissing him in front of what felt like half the town.

"Don't try to make decisions about my life for me," Emu said quietly when he pulled away. "I can decide what's worth the risk for myself."

"I see that." 

"Have dinner with me."

"Two nights in a row?" Kiriya managed a credible grin. "People will talk."

"I know." Emu met his gaze and held it, entirely serious. "I want them to."

Kiriya lost the battle and looked away. "I…"

"It's too late to break the engagement now."

"I know." He couldn't turn back and look. 

"Kiriya?"

"Yeah?"

Emu touched his shoulder. "I need to get back to work. Will I see you later?"

"I…don't know."

A kiss to his cheek and then Emu was gone. Kiriya wanted to sag against the nearest wall, but too many people were watching. He raised his head and marched down the street, trying not to think about the kiss.

Damn it, he was a loner. Had been since Jungo died and he left. He didn't need anybody else in his life, especially not some fresh-faced kid who was beloved by everybody in town. All he would do is drag him down.

It was too late to undo this fake engagement as long as he was around, but he'd be gone soon. Once his unpleasant business was done, he'd disappear—one way or another—and Emu would find someone as sweet as himself to take care of.

He was absolutely not showing up on Emu's doorstep like a pathetic stray cat looking for scraps for dinner. Absolutely positively not.

* * *

Kiriya brought a bottle of wine along this time. Which didn't make it a date. No way. And he wasn't pathetic. He just…

Okay, he was totally pathetic.

Emu beamed when he opened the door and it cracked a little more ice off Kiriya's heart, damn it. "Hi!" Emu said, almost pulling him inside.

"Uh, hi. I came." Kiriya winced. Not only was he pathetic, but he also sounded like a 16-year-old on his first date. What happened to the man who had smooth words for any situation? 

"I'm glad." 

And Kiriya followed Emu into the kitchen, trying to convince himself he wasn't upset that Emu hadn't kissed him this time.

Emu opened a crockpot and a heavenly smell came out. Kiriya almost swooned and Emu grinned. "Great, huh? It's my mom's recipe for beef stew. And getting good ingredients is one of the perks of the job."

"I guess so."

It tasted even better than it smelled. Kiriya tried to remember the last time he had a real home-cooked meal before Emu. Kiriya was a lousy cook and lazy to boot, so he ate out a lot. When he was trying to get laid, he had a series of favorite restaurants to wine and dine the man of the hour.

But he'd never let anyone get close enough to even want to cook for him. Love 'em and leave 'em had been the rule. But here he was, sitting in Emu's kitchen and eating his stew and he hadn't made a move to get him into bed.

Not that Emu wouldn't look great sprawled on a bed, shirtless and—Kiriya took a quick sip of the wine, hoping his flushed face would be attributed to the alcohol. Yes, Emu was hot, but this was not the time to get distracted by that.

* * *

They lingered over dinner, followed by tea with a new cake Emu was considering carrying at the store. It was a bust and Kiriya couldn't help laughing at how disappointed Emu was. 

"But it looked and sounded so good!" Emu glared at the cake as if its dry texture was a personal affront. "It's such a basic cake, how could they have messed it up this badly?"

"I can't even make cake from a mix, so how should I know?"

Somehow this segued into Emu pulling out some bowls and announcing they were making a cake _right now_ from scratch. Which was so domestic that Kiriya should have been running for the hills, but there he was measuring flour into a bowl.

(He did draw the line at wearing his own apron. But he might have surreptitiously snapped a pic of Emu wearing his.)

Of course, the cake was amazing. Which Kiriya knew because Emu insisted he had to stay until it was baked, and so they ended up on the floor of his living room playing old video games until the oven beeped. And then he had to try a piece, of course. And play one or two more games.

It was late, Kiriya thought, leaning his head against the couch and yawning. He hadn't slept much the previous night, so he should probably…

* * *

The sunlight hitting his eyes probably would have woken him, even if the sound of Emu tripping and nearly cracking his head on the coffee table hadn't.

Because the universe hated him, that was the moment his phone chose to ring and Kiriya sat upright from the couch where he'd apparently spent the night, grabbing the phone from the floor where it lay.

"Damn it," he said when he saw the number. He took the call, trying to ignore Emu. "Yo."

"I hope you had a pleasant evening," Parad said, the creepy grin managing to come through the phone line.

"None of your business."

"Easy easy. Just a little small talk, although if you wanted to share some details of—"

"Keep your filthy mind to yourself."

The other man chuckled. "Whatever you say. I've got the information you wanted. Figure out how you want to retrieve it."

Suddenly conscious of Emu's curious looks in his direction, Kiriya muttered, "I'll call you later" and ended the call.

Pushing off the blanket that had somehow gotten tangled in his feet, Kiriya stood. "Uh, sorry for falling asleep."

"It's okay!" Emu smiled. "I would have let you sleep longer, but I've got to get down to the store. Poppy opened but…"

"Of course. I'll just…yeah." Kiriya wanted to facepalm at how awkward he sounded. 

They maneuvered around each other, finding jackets and Emu loaned Kiriya a hairbrush and they put on their shoes.

Hand on the doorknob, Emu paused, glancing behind him. "Y'know…the offer's still open."

Kiriya froze, glad he'd already put his sunglasses on, because he was sure his eyes were wide and shocked.

Apparently not noticing the reaction, Emu went on. "Whatever you're here in town to do, I could help you."

That loosened his tongue. "What if I'm here to sell drugs? Or burn down the bank?"

"You're not." Emu turned to face him. 

"How do you know?"

"I just do. You're not like that. And don't you dare call me naïve," Emu added hastily.

Kiriya huffed out a laugh at that. 

"I mean it. I want to help you."

Shaking his head, Kiriya reached past Emu and opened the door, carefully ignoring every place it caused their bodies to touch. "Don't waste your time on me." Nudging Emu aside, Kiriya jogged down the steps. He didn't look back.

* * *

Data retrieved and added to the thumb drive, Kiriya found himself sitting in the motel room trying (and failing) to focus. It was time to finish up and get the hell out of town. Two more phone calls, a few more meetings, and he'd be on his way back ho—to the city. Back to his life.

Fingers tapping on the desk, Kiriya glared at his phone. He needed to pick up the phone and dial. He needed to leave this town.

He needed to go back to his real life: working late into the night, takeout in his apartment, occasional drinks with colleagues, and finding a hot guy when he got horny. It was a perfectly fine life. Nothing wrong with it. It was uncomplicated and he liked it that way.

Reaching out, Kiriya was about to pick up his phone when it rang, causing him to jump and curse. "What?" he barked as he answered it.

There was a moment of silence. "Um, Kiriya?"

Fuck. Kiriya took a breath. "Sorry, Emu. I was just startled by the sound of the phone."

"Oh, I didn't mean to disturb you."

"It's fine. I was just…thinking."

"Ah." Emu laughed quietly. "I guess I shouldn't ask about what."

"Probably not." 

A small sigh. "I'm bringing dinner."

"What?" Kiriya turned to stare at the clock, which read 4 pm.

"In two hours. I'm bringing dinner to the motel. I thought I should warn you."

"In case I wanted to escape?"

"Something like that," Emu said. "I don't want you to feel like I'm ambushing you. I hope you don't leave, though. Bye."

Putting the phone down on the desk, Kiriya stared at it. He should pack up and leave now. Hide out at Parad's place and make the last meeting tonight. If he waited for Emu, it put everything off at least another 24 hours. And every day he waited made things more hazardous.

Why couldn't he bring himself to pick up the phone? How could he risk Emu's life and livelihood like this? Scrubbing his hands on his jeans, Kiriya reached out, but couldn't bring himself to make the call. He was weak. Weak for a damned banana-suited storeowner. 

Fuck. Kiriya flung himself on the bed, resigned to the fact he wasn't going to leave before Emu arrived. One more dinner. He'd allow himself one more dinner. But that was it.

Emu came at 6 pm on the dot with a bag of Chinese food and beer and a look of relief on his face when Kiriya opened the door. "It's not homemade this time," Emu said, following him in. 

"I'll survive."

They ate off the coffee table, sitting on the small loveseat and it should have been tremendously awkward, but it wasn't. Maybe that was because Emu was just such a genuine person, Kiriya thought, so much his own exact opposite. And Emu had decided they were going to have a good time, so…they did.

They argued about religion over dumplings and soup, then politics over pork fried rice and ma po tofu. Kiriya couldn't remember the last time he so enjoyed disagreeing with someone. Emu was so energized, he accidentally flung a piece of pork off his chopsticks into Kiriya's lap.

Kiriya couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed so hard, either. Maybe he never had.

They drank the rest of the beer when the food was gone, sitting quietly now and half leaning against each other. Kiriya knew where Emu wanted this to go—he wasn't exactly being subtle after all—but he was determined not to seduce him…or allow himself to be seduced.

In a day (two at the most), he'd be gone. Better Emu didn't get more attached. So when the beer was gone, Emu was going to go home and Kiriya was going to sleep off the beer by himself. 

They chatted a little while longer but Emu's face got longer as he realized Kiriya wasn't going to make a move. Finally he stood, downcast. "I guess…I'll go home."

"Probably a good idea." Kiriya had to put his hands behind his back to keep from reaching out.

Taking the few steps to the door, Emu bent over to slip on his shoes and Kiriya followed at a safe distance. But when Emu reached for the door, he somehow managed to trip on his own shoelaces, falling backward against Kiriya. Hissing out a startled breath, Kiriya kept him upright, but it left their faces centimeters apart.

Kiriya couldn't take it any longer. He lunged forward, turning Emu in his arms and taking him in a kiss for the ages, tongue swooping in to taste him, body held firmly against his. And Emu was holding him just as firmly, one hand buried in his hair to make sure he didn't escape.

Nudging with his hip, Emu guided him backward until he hit the bed with the back of his legs and they were toppling over, still holding tight and still kissing.

When Emu finally lifted his head, both of them were gasping for breath, but Emu dove back almost immediately to nibble on Kiriya's ear. "Gah!" Kiriya said, gripping tightly. 

"I want you," Emu said into his ear. "Please."

"Oh gods." How could he refuse that? Kiriya never claimed to be that strong. "Yes."

Emu's body on top of his felt amazing and they spent some time just writhing, figuring out what felt good. Kiriya wormed a thigh between Emu's, happily swallowing the moan that got him. In retaliation, Emu got a hand inside his shirt and rubbed a nipple.

Working his way down the side of Emu's neck, Kiriya found that the best spot was just at the base of the hairline. He licked and nibbled, switching to Emu's ear after a while. When a puff of breath made Emu shudder, Kiriya smirked against the side of his face. "Like that, do you?" he whispered.

"Ah!"

"Is it just talking or do you like it when someone talks dirty?" Kiriya said. "Do you want me to tell you what I'm going to do to you? What I've wanted to do?"

Emu just whimpered, shoving their hips together.

Pushing up, Kiriya toppled Emu on his side then climbed on top. "I love talking dirty but I wouldn't have figured it for your kink."

"It's…not." Emu shook his head.

Kiriya paused, holding his body steady despite the raging desire. "If you don't like it, I won't," he said softly.

Emu didn't meet his eyes, but tried to tug him down for a kiss.

"Hey." Kiriya wanted to go along, but he was worried. "Nothing to be ashamed of if you like it. I'm damn good at it, if I do say so myself."

That got a small smile and Emu finally looking directly at him. "I like it…when _you_ do it. I didn't expect that."

Kiriya clenched his jaw, realizing what Emu was saying. "When I get my hands on—"

Grabbing his shoulders, Emu shook him gently. "Tell me what you're going to do to me. Nobody else. It's just us."

"Right." Kiriya took a breath, looking down at the gorgeous man under him. He took another breath to regain the mood. "I've been thinking about what I wanted to do if I got you here."

Emu's eyes widened. "Really?" he breathed.

"Mmm." Kiriya kissed him, pressing their hips together again. "Thinking about laying you out here. Touching you. Putting my fingers in you. Playing with your cock. Fucking you."

Emu's moan was almost pained. "Kiriya."

"Everybody wants you, you know. They look hungry when they see you." Getting his hands between them, Kiriya unbuttoned Emu's shirt. "But you don't want them."

"No." 

Emu squirmed his way out of the shirt and Kiriya sat up long enough to pull Emu's undershirt up and off. Then he dove down and licked at a nipple to see what happened. It didn't get nearly the interesting reaction he'd hoped for, so he nosed his way back up to Emu's neck. "What do you like? What makes you scream?"

"I don't know." Emu pulled him closer. "It's never been that good."

"Oh, it will be." Kiriya smirked down at him. "I guess we'll find out." Sitting up again, he yanked off his own shirt, then started on the button of Emu's pants. His breathing stuttered as he looked down. Emu looked just as good as he'd expected, red-faced and eyes half closed.

Emu was groping at Kiriya's pants but wasn't coordinated enough to get far, so Kiriya took a second to undo his own button so he could get both pairs of pants off quickly. Chuckling, he rolled off long enough for them to awkwardly kick their pants somewhere else, nearly elbowing each other in the process. Emu was grinning as well and Kiriya just had to reach over and kiss him. Sex was messy and weird but if you weren't having fun, there wasn't any point.

"Gonna touch you everywhere," Kiriya whispered in Emu's ear, getting back in the spirit of things. "Suck your brains out through your cock. Figure out everything that makes you hot and do all of it."

Emu gasped as Kiriya's hand dipped down and pushed his underwear out of the way. "Ngh." He was almost shaking.

Rubbing his palm along the head, Kiriya smiled down at him. "Just like that. It feels good, right?"

It took Emu a few tries to get a word out. "Yeah."

Without warning, Kiriya slid his palm down the full length, grip just tight enough to tease.

Emu's back arched and he let out a high-pitched whine. 

"Mmm, yeah." Kiriya was about ready to come himself. Emu wasn't just gorgeous, he was something special. "Touch me."

"Yes." Emu's eyes opened reluctantly, but he was eager to run his fingers up Kiriya's thigh and into the bottom of his boxers. After a few moments of playing with him, Emu scowled and said "Off."

Grinning, Kiriya yanked off his underwear and threw it near their pants as Emu did the same. They rearranged themselves so they could both be touching at the same time, but Emu paused, looking concerned. "Um…"

It took an effort not to laugh at his worried face, but it was so sweet… "There's lotion."

Emu relaxed as Kiriya reached over him and grabbed the bottle, squirting some on Emu's fingers, which were immediately applied to make him slippery.

They started jacking each other in earnest and the sounds, gods, Kiriya would be remembering them in his dreams forever. Emu made these tiny whimpers in the back of his throat and kept trying to kiss Kiriya but missing.

Entwining their legs, Kiriya pulled him close and used his other hand to hold Emu's head steady so he could kiss him. Emu latched onto his mouth like it was air, clearly close to coming. 

Kiriya moaned into Emu's mouth, causing him to tense and come, sticky and warm and so good. Kiriya felt his body jerk in response and he came as well. Breathing hard, he leaned his forehead against Emu's and slowly, reluctantly, let go of him.

* * *

A few wads of tissues later, they lay together in the bed, Emu spooned up behind Kiriya and nuzzling gently at the back of his neck. He pretended they could stay there forever and everything would be fine. They would go to sleep and the world would be fixed when they woke up.

"Kiriya?"

"Mmm?"

Silence. "Can I stay tonight?"

"Yeah."

Emu smiled against the back of his neck. "I almost screamed, y'know."

Kiriya laughed quietly, tugging Emu's arm tighter around his stomach. "Sleep now. More sex later."

* * *

In the end, they never managed more sex, as Kiriya's phone rang at 2 am. Emu stirred but didn't wake fully as Kiriya grabbed it. "Yeah?"

"He's getting worried," a tense voice said.

It took Kiriya's sleep-fogged brain a moment to recognize his other contact, Graphite. "What?"

"I'm not sure what's set him off, but I don't think we can wait any longer."

"Fuck." Kiriya looked down at Emu, sleeping peacefully on the bed, sprawling across far more than half. "Okay. Tomorrow."

"Good."

The other man hung up and Kiriya leaned back against the wooden headboard. He should be thrilled right now. All his hard work coming to fruition. Everything he'd thought he wanted just a few days ago.

Too bad.

With a sigh, he slid back down the bed. He might as well catch a few more hours of sleep with Emu before he made his final preparations.

* * *

When Emu finally stirred again, around 5 am, Kiriya was up and typing on his laptop, but settled so Emu wouldn't be able to see the screen. Glancing up, Kiriya gave him a faint smile. "Sorry, work calls."

Emu nodded. "I need to be at the store for bakery deliveries anyway."

Kiriya closed the laptop lid. "Okay." He couldn't help it. Rising from the desk, he came to sit on the bed next to Emu, leaning over for a kiss. Morning breath be damned, he wanted one more taste. "Up you go," he said with an easy smile, helping Emu get up and handing him the clothing he'd found and folded.

One more kiss to distract him and Emu was out the door, looking dazed. Kiriya leaned against the back of the door, fist clenched. Tonight, it would all be over.

* * *

Kiriya made himself scarce as soon as he could. Today of all days, he didn't need Emu tracking him down and sticking with him. The day dragged on forever, but finally he headed down to the riverfront to stake out a spot for the meetup. He hadn't been able to go there himself before now without possibly alerting anyone. Strolling down a mostly forgotten path (although not by certain teenagers, given the discarded condom he saw by a yew), he found the clearing that had been described to him.

Parad had the laptop, which now had a backup of everything on the thumb drive in Kiriya's pocket. Could the man be trusted to finish the job if things went wrong? Kiriya snorted. Probably not. But at least Parad could take care of himself and get the laptop to Graphite.

Leaning against a tree, Kiriya waited, nerves jangling. Two boys, probably no more than 15, stumbled over a branch and nearly landed at his feet. Looking over his sunglasses at them, Kiriya growled, "Get outta here before I call your parents." They scrambled away so fast, they probably left scorch marks in the underbrush.

Arms crossed, he kept waiting. It was nearly 7. 

Just as he was starting to worry, measured footsteps down the path reassured him. Trying to look casual, Kiriya took off his sunglasses as Kuroto Dan came into the clearing and noticed him. Kiriya waited.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kuroto asked.

"Isn't that my question? I'm not the one in the woods with a briefcase." 

"I don't have to answer to you." Kuroto turned, ready to walk away.

"I think you do. Because I think you're here to meet up with people who want to buy drugs from you."

Pausing, Kuroto turned slowly to look at him. For a moment, his expression vacillated between furious and amused, but he finally settled on the latter. "All these years later and you're still on about that?"

"Yeah, it's funny, huh?" Kiriya figured his smile looked anything but amused. "But you killed my best friend when he threatened to call the district police, who you and your daddy don't own. So yeah, I'm still on about that."

"I really don't know why you think your wild accusations will work better now."

"For one thing, I'm not a scared kid. For another, I'm a coroner with access to past cases."

Kuroto froze, staring at him.

"Didn't bother to look me up, huh? Yeah, I got to take a look at the evidence from the day Jungo died and it doesn't match up, buddy." Kiriya's voice was rough as he pulled the thumb drive out of his pocket and waved it. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Kuroto didn't sound terribly convincing.

"You stifled the investigation, so nobody ever noticed that Jungo wasn't drunk when the car crashed. In fact, he wasn't even _in_ the car."

Eyes wide, Kuroto's jaw was hanging down.

He was taking the bait, Kiriya thought, fighting to keep the grin off his face. "But now you're gonna go to jail for both crimes. Why sell the drugs? Don't you have enough money?" 

"No. No no."

C'mon, so close. "Why'd you do it? Why'd you kill him? Even if the police had believed him about the drugs, they'd have let you off lightly." Stepping forward, Kiriya stared into Kuroto's eyes. "Why'd you kill him?"

"Because he defied me!" Kuroto screamed. "How dare he? We own this town. We own all of you!"

"No." Kiriya shook his head. "And you're finally going to—"

With a scream of wordless rage, Kuroto pulled something from his pocket and pointed it. Kiriya tried to dive out of the way, but he'd gotten too close.

The sound of the gun was very loud, but it took a moment for the pain to start. Kiriya stared down at his bleeding side in astonishment before gasping and dropping to his knees.

Kuroto just stood there, grinning down at him, watching the blood fall, before tossing the gun and briefcase onto the ground between them. Both of them turned at the sound of running feet but Kiriya was almost distracted from the pain by the sight of Emu and Taiga entering the clearing.

Emu's eyes widened and he ran to Kiriya, flinging himself next to him and putting a hand against his side. "Kiriya."

"What are…" He had to stop and grit his teeth against the pain.

"He attacked me and I had to defend myself!" Kuroto shouted, backing away.

Taiga stood between them, facing Kuroto, but he shot an unreadable look over his shoulder.

"He's been selling drugs all along, I knew it!" Kuroto said.

"Nnnn…" Kiriya wanted to scream in frustration, but he couldn't.

"Get Hiiro," Emu said. 

"But—" Taiga began.

"Go! The others are coming!"

Others? Kiriya watched, confused, as Taiga ran back the way they came.

Kuroto took a few steps forward. "You believe me, right, Emu?" He took on a coaxing tone. "Let go of Kiriya. He's a killer. He's not safe."

Staring up at Emu's face, which was filled with anger, Kiriya hoped he would die right there. This was his worst nightmare come to life. He wanted to argue, yell at Kuroto, but all he could do was bleed out on the ground while Emu hated his guts.

"Put him down," Kuroto said. "I promise I'll protect you."

Slowly, carefully, Emu lowered Kiriya to the ground. Closing his eyes, Kiriya felt tears falling without his permission and he couldn't tell which pain was causing them. But his eyes shot open at the unmistakable sound of a solid punch to the jaw. Emu! What was—

Lying on the ground a few feet away, Kuroto looked startled.

"You lying bastard," Emu said, fist still clenched. "If Kiriya dies, I swear—"

"Don't finish that sentence," Graphite said, jogging into the clearing. "It's a bad idea to say that in front of a police officer."

Kuroto stared up at him. "What? You're—"

Graphite glanced at Kiriya. "Everything's secure at the bank."

Emu ignored that as he hurried back to Kiriya, looking worried at the amount of blood on the ground. 

Distantly, Kiriya heard Graphite explaining he was undercover as he handcuffed Kuroto. And then Hiiro was there and Nico and Taiga were handing him supplies. Scowling, Hiiro said, "I told you not to antagonize him."

Kiriya would have laughed if he had any extra breath. Instead he turned his head and looked at Emu, who was staring at him, face pale, standing next to Poppy and…Parad? 

Parad, creepy grin firmly in place, was helping Poppy clean the worst of the blood off Emu, who didn't even seem to notice them.

Now, Kiriya thought, he'd seen everything. He slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

When Kiriya opened his eyes again, everything was white. He panicked for a moment before he realized he was staring at a ceiling. Turning his head carefully, he saw Emu asleep in a chair next to the bed and through an open door, he could see Hiiro sitting at a desk, eating a slice of cake.

The movement of his head made the room spin, so he closed his eyes. Clearly he had quite a few painkillers in his system right now. He waited until he no longer felt like things were spinning and slowly opened his eyes again.

Emu shifted in the chair, then his eyes opened. "Kiriya!" he yelped, almost falling off the chair.

"Hey," he croaked back.

Emu slid to his knees next to the bed, grinning madly. "You're okay. You're going to be okay. Hiiro patched you up."

Walking into the room, Hiiro nodded, unsmiling. "If I could examine my patient for a few moments…"

"Of course!" Emu bounced up. "I'm going to go tell everyone he's awake."

Hiiro watched Emu go, then turned back. Kiriya waited with some trepidation. "He seems to have chosen you," Hiiro said eventually. "Don't hurt him."

Kiriya had no idea what he was supposed to say to that, so he let Hiiro examine his wound and check his vitals. "You're in my clinic," Hiiro explained. "Although you bled quite a bit, no major organs were hit, so Asuna and I patched you up here. Several people in town had the right blood type, so you received five units of whole blood."

"Oh."

"Emu was distressed he was unable to donate, so he started making phone calls."

Kiriya started to chuckle, but the pain bled through even the strong painkillers, so he stopped. After a few moments, he managed to say, "And nobody can say no to Emu."

"Correct." Hiiro put on a new bandage. "You'll be here a few days. But I think you'll be busy," he said, drily, as what sounded like a herd of elephants could be heard coming down the hall.

As Emu appeared with what looked like half the town behind him, Hiiro turned, arms crossed and glaring. "Two visitors at a time," he barked out.

Skidding to a halt, Emu blinked, doe eyes wide and pleading. "But Hiiro…"

With a sigh, Hiiro's shoulders slumped just a little. "Fine. Two in addition to you, Emu."

"Thank you, Hiiro."

Emu bounded in with Taiga and Nico behind him, while Hiiro shooed everyone else back down the hall.

Nico looked a lot less combative now, her face pale and worried as she burrowed against Taiga's chest. Not realizing Kiriya was watching, Taiga looked down at her with an unexpectedly tender expression. Well then.

Emu pulled his chair up next to the bed. "You had everyone worried."

"I wasn't worried," Taiga said. "He's too much of an idiot to die."

Kiriya scowled at him. "Who are you calling idiot?"

"The guy who wouldn't have accepted any help, so Emu had to do it all on his own."

Right. Memories flooded back. Wait…why was everyone there?

He must have said it aloud, because Nico spoke up. "Emu called us."

"That doesn't explain things," Kiriya said.

Emu looked down at the floor, actually wringing his hands. "I, um, might have been spying on you."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, don't be mad, I was just worried and I—"

"He saved your life," Nico said.

"Emu called around and found out where you'd been and who you'd talked to," Taiga said.

"Amu told Horio who told me about the argument in the café," Nico said.

"And I had a customer who'd seen you walking down a side street," Taiga said.

"Ren at the bakery knew some things and so did Mr. Kyotaro the teacher." Emu picked up the story. "When I gathered everything I knew together, I figured out you'd met with Parad, so I called him."

"Wait, the bastard knew you knew and he didn't tell me?" Kiriya gritted his teeth.

"Well, I only talked to him this afternoon…"

"He had my damn phone number." Kiriya rolled his eyes. "I knew I couldn't trust him."

"And what would you have done if he'd called you?" Emu's eyes narrowed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kiriya saw Taiga and Nico hurriedly duck out of the room. Rats deserting a sinking ship, he thought. "Certainly not let the rest of you endanger yourselves by showing up!"

"I told you not to make that decision for me!" Arms crossed, Emu glared at him.

"He had a gun! What if he'd shot you!"

Emu's jaw dropped. "You _did_ get shot, asshole! How do you think I felt?"

"Why the hell do you even care?!"

Hiiro stepped into the room. "Perhaps you should—"

"Shut up!" Kiriya and Emu shouted and Hiiro raised his hands in surrender, stepping back out of the room.

Emu stood, pacing the few steps back and forth next to the bed. "How can you ask that? Why would you…" Pausing, he looked at Kiriya. "You really think that little of yourself?"

Kiriya turned his face to the wall, gritting his teeth as everything spun again.

"You do." Emu sounded sad now. 

"Don't do this."

"Kiriya. You're a good person."

"No, I’m not." Still facing the wall, he forced the words out. "I'm an asshole who never fucks the same man twice, who refuses to make friends, who only came back in order to get revenge. My own parents barely speak to me."

Emu gasped. 

"They blame me for everything. Which is fair, because it's my fault."

"No—"

"Jungo's little brother got sick from something Kuroto sold him. If I hadn't told Jungo about Kuroto selling drugs, he wouldn't have run to confront him, and he wouldn't have died."

"That's not—"

"Everyone looked at them funny for having a son who'd been involved in a car accident like that."

"Kiriya!" Emu shouted.

Closing his eyes, Kiriya carefully turned his head back, reopening them after a moment. "It was my fault."

"No. No, it wasn't. Kuroto was the one selling drugs. Jungo made the choice to confront him. Kuroto…" Emu paused. "What exactly did he do? Nobody told me that part."

It took a few careful breaths before Kiriya could speak. It still hurt a lot to remember. "Kuroto hit Jungo with his car. Practically ran over him. When he realized what he'd done, well, I think he called his father, but maybe he came up with it himself. He ran the car into a tree and made it look vaguely like Jungo had been in the car."

Emu frowned. "What about you?"

"Kuroto called me to say I'd better come pick Jungo up. I came running like an idiot." Kiriya put a hand to his chest, remembering how it felt when he saw Jungo lying there on the ground. "Kuroto sucker punched me, left me lying next to Jungo, and poured some whiskey over us. Then when the cops his father paid off arrived, he claimed we crashed his car because we were drunk."

"That's where I come in," Graphite said from the doorway. Strolling in, he took Emu's chair. "One of those dirty cops talked a bit too much to the wrong person and word got back to headquarters. Local cops get a lot of leeway, but that's a bit too far."

"I'd been talking to Parad," Kiriya said. 

"He's worked at the bank for years," Emu said. "Head of IT."

Kiriya nodded. "I heard through the grapevine that he wasn't entirely happy with things that Masamune and Kuroto had done there and that he might be willing to do some sneaking around on my behalf."

"And Parad knew someone who knew someone who knew me," Graphite said. "Between his evidence of financial wrongdoing, the forensic information you provided from the autopsy, the recording of your conversation, and, of course, Kuroto having shot you," Graphite smirked at him, "I can predict that Kuroto Dan and his father will be spending a long time in prison." Turning to Emu, he smiled more genuinely. "And I can't forget your assistance today. I didn't have a doctor on standby and I didn't have the people to cover all the bases you did."

Emu blushed. "I know a lot of people and they…well, they talk to me. I'd been trying to figure out who the dealer was for a while now. That was the one thing I couldn't get anyone to admit, although I had my suspicions."

Kiriya stared at him. "And you agreed to date him?!"

Looking down, Emu mumbled, "I thought maybe I could figure out if it was true."

"That's the…I can't believe…you need a fucking _keeper_!" Kiriya shouted, his voice cracking.

Graphite cleared his throat, moving toward the door. "I'll just…yeah, nobody's listening to me."

Emu looked at Kiriya. "Are you volunteering?"

Startled, Kiriya moved in just the wrong way and sucked in a breath as pain lanced through his side. And Emu was there, holding his hand and stroking his forehead as he waited for the pain to pass. "I just want you," Emu said quietly. 

Kiriya closed his eyes. "I'm not…you should find someone better to be with. Nicer, kinder, I don't know."

"But I don't want anyone else."

"Don't be ridiculous." 

"I know you've felt like you were alone since Jungo died. I understand why you thought that." Emu squeezed his hand. "But you're not alone now. There's me and…well, all of that lot waiting out there. You're not alone. You'll never have to be alone again."

It felt like Kiriya's head was floating off. How was he supposed to respond to that? "No…that…" Frustrated, he growled.

Emu sighed, considering him. "Can you honestly say that you don't want to be with me? Because that's the only reason I'll give up on you."

Kiriya tried to take a deep breath but had to pause when it made his side scream with pain again. Looking up, Kiriya opened his mouth to lie like he'd never lied before. "I…"

Emu waited patiently.

"I…" Kiriya tried again. "Damn it!"

Emu started to smile.

"Stop that."

The smile grew into a grin.

"I mean it, stop!" Kiriya tried to glare at him. Bending down, Emu kissed him and Kiriya forgot entirely what he was trying to say.

"So?"

"Hmm?" Kiriya licked his lips.

"Can you get a job somewhere a little closer to here?" Emu's brow furrowed in concern. "I'll sell the store if I have to, because I don't want you to give up on—"

"Emu!"

Emu paused. "Yes, Kiriya?"

Kiriya closed his eyes for a moment. "I'll find a job closer to here. Closer to home. Okay?"

Emu's giant happy grin made all the pain in Kiriya's side fade away. "Okay!"

After so many years, it looked like Kiriya Kujou was moving back home. And to his own surprise, he couldn't have been happier about it.

\--end--


End file.
